Tag: driving nude

Before

In a previous post I wrote about telling the people at work about your lifestyle. I received some interesting comments on that post, either on the post itself and also through various social media (yes, I pretend to be social, like on Twitter, Mewe and occasionally even on Ello).

It’s clear that by far not everyone has the good fortune to have colleagues or co-workers with open minds that will accept the clothes free way of life. That basically sucks, even when there’s little you can do about it. Going out to find a new job because of that is rather drastic.

Another side of things

One day at work, this past hot summer, I had a very interesting encounter. A co-worker came to me and whispered, “I saw you in your car yesterday”.

The reason for her whisper was that she’d seen me just before driving off. When it’s really hot I don’t want to wear clothes in my car so once in there I take everything off before leaving the parking lot. Since the building where I work is in town it’s hardly surprising someone sees me. Honestly I don’t care one bit about that. It’s my car and my sanity. If they really want to look into my car they should be prepared to deal with what they see.

To said co-worker I said, “Good for you. Have you tried it yourself?” Hardly surprising that the answer was ‘no’, followed by the question why on earth I was doing that. Was I some kind of exhibitionist?

No. I am not. I simply want to be comfortable and I did my best to explain that to my co-worker. Of course the concept of being comfortable made sense, but… “we have air conditioning for that.” This response is the default for modern people. I explained that taking your clothes off often makes that you don’t have to switch on the A/C in your car. Nor in your home if you have such a thing there and that is a huge cost saver. That information in turn triggered even more disbelief because “you don’t walk around naked at home.”

To that I could only say, “Wrong. I do. You clearly don’t, but that’s not my problem.” It was nice to turn things around. Dear co-worker wanted to make my way of life my problem but with a simple statement I turned that into the opposite. It also made for a surprised person who had nothing more to add.

Driving naked

I talked about this before. Intrigued as I was by the comment of Artur, I decided to look into the Dutch laws about the need to be dressed while driving. I spent several hours going through all kinds of law texts, searched for stuff on a Dutch law website, and I came up with nothing related to the need to be dressed. The only law article that came up several times was the famous 430a, which ‘regulates’ the options for being nude in places. It decrees that you can’t be nude in public places. Places that are obviously not suited for it. Places where lots of people pass by.

This brings up the argument if the inside of your own car is a public place or not. I would assume it’s not. In a public place everyone can come in and sit down. That is not the case with my car. Now you may argue that it’s public enough for people to look inside and see a nude person in there. Correct. However, in the Netherlands it’s legal to be nude in your own house without having all drapes or curtains closed. People looking inside do so on their own risk.

Also it is okay to be naked in outside places where people can ‘look in’, meaning that you can be naked without having to take precautions not to be seen (a.k.a. ‘offend’ others). Places like this, on the right. Hardly a through road, right?

Apparently it’s mostly illegal over there, but restrictions happen on a per state basis, so know your rights. The most important thing there is what I’ve always said and thought also: don’t do crazy stuff. Drive like a normal person. Don’t attract attention. If there is no reason for people to look at your car (and you), they won’t. They’ll just drive on, paying attention to traffic as they (and you) should.

England

Considering the post I made about freehiking in the U.K. which details quite precisely what is okay and what isn’t, I would guess that driving nude there is safe also, provided you are in control of your vehicle (wear shoes).

Again

Yes, I know, I’ve posted about this several times before because it’s a topic I really am intrigued with since there are (at least in the Netherlands, as I said) no actual rules that I’ve found. And I love driving clothes free because of the liberating feeling that nudity gives me.

Have you driving naked? In what country? Do you have tips and suggestions? With enough feedback I might compile a ‘driving naked’ page with them!

Naturists and cars.

Of course do naturists have cars. Together with walking, cycling and public transport they’re a great way to get around. Wait, did I say public transport? Sorry! 😉

Cars and clothing laws.

As with just about anything in life there are laws concerning cars. They need to have tyres that all touch the ground, a working engine, lights, stuff like that. My main gripe about car laws is that there is nearly no clarity about the way you need to drive. I don’t mean adhering to the rules of the road, but – you guessed it – what you need to wear. Or not wear. So far only Germany has an (as far as I know) clear statement about that. You need to wear proper footwear to operate the pedals. You can be naked in your car (let’s all move to Germany). You can’t however be naked getting out of your car unless you’re at a place where nudity is accepted. Germany is cool.

Where I live, in the Netherlands, there’s a lot of fuzzy commenting going around about naked driving. I’ve seen police statements where cops chased a nude driver, I’ve read reports on people simply driving along in the nude without a problem. For myself I can state I’ve driven around in the nude plenty of times and never had a problem with that.

That either means things aren’t as bad as they’re depicted or I’ve just been very lucky.

Driving naked, the international version.

I haven’t investigated every country exhaustively. Firstly because I don’t want to spend too much of my time doing that, secondly because there are too many countries and too obscure laws. 😉

I found a few resources for you.

America, you might like to read this. Short version: “We were surprised to find little consensus on whether it is actually illegal to drive naked. There don’t seem to be many laws on the books that specifically address nudity in cars vs. nudity in general. One rule of thumb: It’s probably OK to drive naked, but only if no one else sees you.”

Scotland and England, here’s a link for you. Short version: “It’s not an offence to be naked in public in England and Wales but it does become an offence if it can be proved the person stripped off with the intention to upset and shock. The complainant has to prove this.

In Scottish law there is no statutory offence, just the common law offence of offending public decency – a strand of the breach of the peace. The test is essentially the same as in English law, that a member of the public has been put in a state of fear or alarm.”

It doesn’t state driving explicitly but if you can be nude in public you should be fine in your car.

Sweden, maybe this is of interest to you. Short version: “…as nudist Ronja told the magazine: Being naked is about freedom, and not conforming to others.But this type of freedom involves a few guidelines. So here we go…ten commandments of Swedish nude etiquette.”

Again, no explicit mentioning of cars, but if you can be naked at home, a car shouldn’t be a big problem.

How is it in your country? Do you know?

Maybe you have some inside experience that might help others who like to drive in the nude. Driving naked is nice when it’s hot (or not cold). Tips and such are, as always, appreciated!

Did you know that driving naked in Germany is not forbidden? Now there’s no law that actually states you can drive around naked but as long as you’re able to drive your vehicle in a safe and controlled manner you’re fine.

You may have a problem on your hands when you’re in an accident and you weren’t wearing footwear. Breaking hard can be painful on bare feet, this makes you were not able to drive your car safely and that’s where “the shoe hurts” then.

Note that this is only applicable for being inside your car. Once you get out you should either be dressed or in a place where you can’t offend other people by being naked (for instance a spot where there are no people, or in a nudist area).

You may have heard of it before; people who driving along all over the place without wearing clothes. True nudists will perhaps know how it feels or know someone who’s done it (and/or still does). Last year I posted about this already, it’s time for another one.

Driving naked. If you’ve never done it you have no idea how liberating it is. Some things to keep in mind and know (and this is from experience):

Have a towel. Because you sweat, and once that gets into the chair’s fabric that’s not going to smell nice after a while.

Relax. Driving is something that requires attention, getting uptight and nervous about being naked isn’t safe.

Don’t worry about being seen. If you worry about that, don’t drive naked. The thing is that just about all people won’t look at you, they’re occupied with traffic, their phone, themselves, whatever.

Don’t think that others expect you to be naked in your car. The others usually are non-nudists and it won’t even cross their mind that someone would do that.

If someone sees you, act naturally. After all, you’re all natural when you’re naked. You can ignore them if they try to attract attention or just look at them once and ignore them then. Giving them a lot of attention makes them pay less attention to the road (and you too). You’re naked because YOU want that, not for others to see you. Being behind windows brings the chance to be seen but it’s very small. I drove home naked 6 times in 2 weeks, each trip being over 130km / 80 miles and I’m convinced that no one saw me.

I hadn’t done that a lot. Driving nude. Actually I was pointed to it after I had joined the Nook.

Why would you drive nude? Well, why wouldn’t you if you’re a nudist? You wouldn’t when it’s too cold, I can see that. But when it’s warm and nice, there would not be a reason to keep your clothes on while you’re in your car, unless you suspect you need to get out of your car at any moment.

A few things I have learnt since that time:

It’s very comfortable. Nothing pulls and yanks, just like being nude in general.

I needed to get used to feeling the seat belt on my skin. That was annoying for a while.

Nobody watches you. I think this is a major thing to realise; people don’t expect you to be in your car naked so they’re not on the lookout for you. If you act naturally (and how else can you when you’re in your natural skin) they will do that too. They’ll also be paying attention to traffic. (Or their phone… 🙁 )

Putting something on again is much easier when you slide the seat back all the way. (But only when you’re standing still, don’t try this on the motorway!)

Keep something of clothing near in case you need to stop for a sign by e.g. a police officer. You can pull it over your lap to avoid compromising situations. (I do understand that this would not be enough for ladies.)

Keep a towel in your car and sit on that. You’ll sweat and the sweat will go into the upholstery of the seat. A towel is much easier to wash.

The air conditioning is much more effective: instead of mostly cooling your clothes it actually cools down you, so you don’t have to crank it up so much to feel comfortable.

Some tips if you want to start carefully

Take back roads that you know to be quiet, or drive around quiet industrial areas in weekends if there are any.

Drive in the evening when it’s (getting) dark. Of course, in the summer this would be difficult unless you’re okay with going for it much later than usual. In the winter it’s dark early, you could drive around a bit until the car’s warm and then take off your clothes.

Drive around dinner time if that’s something in your area which makes most people be inside.